The Boston Bruins (24-10-2) will face the Nashville Predators (16-16-4) for the first time since St. Patrick's day tonight in hopes of extending our win streak to two and picking up two points to help us maintain our 3 point lead in the division over the Lightning.

Team Stats

Team: 36 points putting them last in the Central Division. -20 goal differential with an average of almost 3 GA per game vs. 2 GF/game. 8-7-3 record at home with a 3-5-2 record in their last 10. Nashville has a 7-8-1 all time record against the Bruins with a 5-4-0 advantage on home ice.

Players: 19 of the 28 players have negative ratings on the ice ranging from Roman Josi's -14 to Taylor Beck's -1. David Legwand leads in points with 25 off 6 goals and 19 assists while Kevin Klein brings up the rear with 1 point off an assist. Of note, Captain Shea Weber is tied with Zdeno Chara and Erik Karlsson for first in goals among defensemen at 9 and is the only d-man in the league to lead his team in goals.

Goalie:Carter Hutton will get the start. He's played 17 games with a 7-5-2 record. He has a 2.88 GAA and a .906 SV%. His stick side seems to be his weakness as the last game he started on 12/19 saw 3 of the 4 goals scored on that side.

Team: 50 points putting us first in the Atlantic Division. +25 goal differential with an average of about 3 GF/game and 2 GA/game. 9-7-0 away record with a 7-3-0 record in their last 10.

Players: 17 of the 28 players have positive ratings on the ice ranging from Jarome Iginla's +14 to Jordan Caron's +1. David Krejci leads in points with 31 off of 7 goals and 24 assists and Jordan Caron brings up the rear with 1 point off a goal. Of note, David Krejci has 3 goals and 10 assists in his last 8 games.

Goalies: The Bruins haven't announced who's starting tonight. Tuukka Rask has played in 28 games with an 18-8-2 record. He has a 1.87 GAA and a .936 SV%. Chad Johnson has played in 9 games with a 6-2 record. He has a 2.40 GAA and a .911 SV%. Johnson struggles with reaction and reset time.

Keys to Tonight's Game

1. Offense: Although the Predators offense has been sluggish, that doesn't mean we can take them lightly. To keep them at bay the Bruins need to smother David Legwand and Shea Weber, who are the Predator's main offensive drivers. We also should keep an eye on guys like Gabriel Bourque (10 points in his last 16 games), Matt Cullen (12 points in last 17 games), Craig Smith (11 points in his last 14 games) and Roman Josi (6 points in his last 7 games), who are smaller threats but threats all the same. This all just requires us to keep these guys covered while watching for those passing lanes that would allow them to set up offensive plays and opportunities.

2. Goalie Pressure: As I said, Hutton has an issue blocking shots on his stick side. We need to take advantage of that weakness and attempt to shoot in that general direction. If we can't, we still need to be lifting the puck and avoiding shooting at his chests and pads.

3. Wingers: The Predators have trouble covering their wings adequately. In the last two games they played the Lightning and the Habs had little to no trouble creating drives from the far right and left sides. As long as we recognize this weakness, we should have no problem creating plays and getting shooting chances from these sides. Our bigger wingers (i.e Lucic, Iginla) along with our big defense (i.e. Chara, Mcquaid) will come in handy in this capacity.

4. Physicality: The Predators are not a highly physical team. As such, our physical game is going to be incredibly helpful in helping us win puck battles and creating turnovers when it counts. We need to use our size and physicality to our advantage tonight.

My Three Players to Watch

1. Milan Lucic: As one of our bigger wingers, he's going to be a big help in moving the puck down the boards and creating those opportunities in front of the net. His physicality paired with his offensive talent is going to help us come up big tonight.2. David Krejci: As our top point earner right now, Krejci is going to also be a crucial offensive force in front of the net. He's going to match up well with Shea Weber in that capacity. He's also a strong center men, which is of course going to help gain possession off those face offs.3. Torey Krug: Krug is small, fast and a great two zone player. Hutton has had issues with other offensively talented defensemen and with his killer shot from the blue line, Krug is going to give Hutton some problems tonight. His ability to keep the puck in the zone is also going to be helpful in keeping pressure on Hutton.